Knock-down display assembly



p 30, 1969 J. w. LEIGH 3,469,335

KNOCK-DOWN DISPLAY ASSEMBLY Filed Dec. 15, 1967 INVENTOR.

JONATHAN W. Lei/6H BY WORNEYS United States Patent 3,469,335 KNOCK-DOWN DISPLAY ASSEMBLY Jonathan W. Leigh, New York, N.Y., assignor to Einson Freeman and De Troy Corporation, a corporation of New Jersey Filed Dec. 15, 1967, Ser. No. 691,019 Int. Cl. G09f 1/10, 7/18 U.S. Cl. 40124.1 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to advertising displays, and more particularly to an assembly of display panel modules.

It is a general object of the inveniton to provide a simple, inexpensive, but highly effective means for building up a wide variety of display assemblies of knock-down type, each display featuring at least three corrugatedboard panels, and preferably even a greater number of such panels, all of which may be identical except perhaps for the display material which they carry.

Each panel is preferably square or rectangular, and is formed of conventional corrugated board. On at least one of its faces, each panel is provided with matter to be displayed. Two of the panels are arranged on substantially the same horizontal level and preferably are positioned at an angle to each other so that they converge to an apex. The third panel is located above the other two and its lower edge crosses the upper edges of the two lower panels. The corrugations of all the panels extend vertically, and the third panel is joined to the other two by wire connectors which are accommodated by the panel corrugations.

As a result, any number of completely independent panels may be quickly and easily assembled, without special skill or tools, to form structures having an infinite variety of shapes and great stability. Furthermore, the assemblies may easily be knocked down, and because all the panels are separate (except for some which may be hinged to other panels) enough panels for creating a large and attractive display may be packed or stored compactly.

Additional objects and features of the invention will be apparent from the following description in which reference is made to the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a single panel according to the invention;

FIG. 2 shows in perspective a wire connector for joining the panels;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an illustrative assembly of three panels;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view along line 4t-4 of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view along line 55 of FIG. 4.

A typical panel of the type useful with the present invention is shown in FIG. 1. The panel is preferably square or rectangular, but obviously other shapes may be used. The panel is composed of conventional three-ply corrugated board comprising a central sinuous layer 11 and outer smooth-faced layers 12 sandwiching it between them. One or both faces of the panel 10 carries display 3,469,335 Patented Sept. 30, 1969 "Ice matter 13, such as printed advertising material. Since, as is well known, it is difficult to apply high quality printing and lithography directly to the exposed faces of corrugated board, the display matter is usually applied to independent sheets which are thereafter laminated to the smooth-faced layers 12 of the board. The specific manner in which the display matter is applied to the panel 10 is unimportant, as far as this invention is concerned. It is essential only that the display matter be so arranged with respect to the panel that when the display matter is properly oriented for viewing, the corrugations of layer 11 extend vertically.

According to this invention, as many panels of the type shown in FIG. 1 as desired, except that the minimum number of panels employed must be three, may be interconnected in an infinite variety of interesting and attractive shapes and patterns. The means for joining the panels together are wire connectors 16, one of which is shown in FIG. 2. The diameter of the wire is smaller than the smallest cross-sectional dimension of the channels defined within the panel 10 by the cooperation of the corrugations of layer 11 and the outer layers 12. Thus, a wire connector may be slipped endwise into one of the corrugation channels. Each connector is an initially straight length of wire deformed in its central region to provide means for limiting the movement of the wire into the corrugations of the panel 10. Specifically, in the present example, the connector 16 is formed with two spacedapart right angle bends 17 defining two straight and parallel end portions 18 and 19, and a central transverse section 20. The bends 17 need not necessarily extend through a full It is sufficient if the angles defined by the two bends are equal so that the end portions 18 and 19 remain parallel.

The manner in which a number of panels of the type shown in FIG. 1 and connectors of the type shown in FIG. 2 may be assembled to create a display is illustrated in FIGS. 35. In FIG. 3, three panels, the minimum number needed to form a stable display assembly, are shown. These panels are given the reference numerals 23, 24, and 25, but it is to be understood that each may be identical to the panel 10 of FIG. 1. In the illustrative assembly, two of the panels, 23 and 24, are arranged on the same horizontal level and at an angle less than to each other, and their forward edges meet. (It is contemplated that the panels 23 and 24 could "be hinged together along their forward edges.) The third panel 25 is arranged above the other two, and the vertical plane which contains the panel 25 intersects both of the panels 23 and 24. All the panels 23, 24, and 25 are oriented with their corrugations extending vertically so that the display material they carry may be viewed properly.

The lower end portion 19 of a connector 16 extends downwardly from the upper edge of the panel 24 and along one of the corrugations between the layer 11 and one of the layers 12 of that panel (see FIG. 4). The movement of the portion 19 into the panel 24 is limited by the engagement of the connector portion 20 with the upper edge of one or more of the panel layers 11 and 12. The upper end portion 18 of the connector extends upwardly from the lower edge of the panel 25 along one of the corrugations of that panel. Again relative movement between the connector portion 18 and the panel 25 is limited by engagement of the connector portion 20 with the lower edge of the layers forming the panel 25. Similarly, another connector 16 extends between the panels 23 and 25. The connectors 16 prevent horizontal shifting between the panel 25 and lower panels 23 and 24 which support it. Consequently, a stable structure is provided.

Obviously, FIG. 3 illustrates only the simplest arrangement of the panels, and obviously additional panels may be employed to build up a larger and more complicated assembly. It will be apparent that the number of ditferent display assemblies which can be constructed will be limited only by the imagination of the user of the panels and connectors.

The invention has been shown and described in preferred form only, and by way of example and many variations may be made in the invention which will still be comprised within its spirit. It is understood, therefore, that the invention is not limited to any specific form or embodiment except insofar as such limitations are included in the appended claims.

What is claimed is.

1. A knock-down display assembly comprising at least three panels, each panel being formed of a corrugated board which includes a central sinuous layer having a flat layer secured to at least one of its faces, at least one of said fiat layers bearing matter to be displayed, said display matter being arranged so that it is properly oriented for viewing when said panel is disposed with its corrugations extending vertically, two of said panels being arranged on substantially the same horizontal level with their corrugations extending vertically, said two panels being spaced apart for at least a portion of their lengths, the third panel being arranged above and at an angle to said two panels so that the plane containing said third panel intersects the planes containing said two panels, the corrugations of said third panel extending vertically, and wire connectors extending for a portion of their lengths into corrugations of said two panels and for another portion of their lengths into corrugations of said third panel.

2. A display assembly as defined in claim 1 wherein said two panels are arranged at an acute angle to each other.

3. A display assembly as defined in claim 2 wherein one vertical edge of one of said two panels is hinged to a corresponding vertical edge of the other panel.

4. A display assembly as defined in claim 1 including means for limiting the movement of each of said wire connectors into the panel corrugations.

5. A display assembly as defined in claim 4 wherein each of said wire connectors comprises a length of wire, and said limiting means includes a deformation of said length of wire.

6. A display assembly as defined in claim 5 wherein said deformation includes two spaced apart bends in the wire between its ends, the angles defined by said bends being equal so that the end portions of said connector are parallel and its intermediate portion between said bends extends transverse to the end portions.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,481,333 1/1924 Agar l24.1 1,891,009 12/1932 Phelps 40-l24.1 2,837,216 6/1958 Paige 4Ol24.1 X 3,108,696 10/1963 Winner 40124.1 X

EUGENE R. CAPOZIO, Primary Examiner WENCESLAO J. CONTRERAS, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 40-125 

